Welcome to Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!
I have such a beautiful book about friendship, community, and learning to open your heart and trust the world around you. It was written and illustrated by Edward Hemingway, youngest grandson of Ernest, (and is a far cry from my 9th grade reading of A Farewell To Arms 😊) It is due out on June 21 and I think it’s a book classrooms and libraries can benefit from as well as home libraries. Have a look!
Title: Pigeon & Cat
Written & Illustrated By: Edward Hemingway
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books/Little Brown & Co, June 21, 2022
Suitable For Ages: 4-8
Themes/Topics: friendship, community, creativity, personal growth
Opening: “In an abandoned city lot there sits a cardboard box. Inside the box lives Cat.”
Brief Synopsis: from the publisher: “In an abandoned city lot, Cat lives alone in a cardboard box. He leaves only to find food. One day, Cat discovers an unbroken egg too beautiful to eat. Soon, out pecks Pigeon, and they become fast friends. Cat is happy to share his box with Pigeon. But when Pigeon flies far away from where they live, Cat must brave the city in order to rescue his friend. This journey will forever transform his understanding of home.
This heartwarming story explores unlikely friendships, the creative spark within us, and how to give comfort and kindness in small, impactful gestures. It is also a celebration of urban community.”
Links To Resources: as a parent or teacher, encourage your kids to be part of their communities – family, school, neighborhood. Look at family photos so kids learn who family members are and how important they are to you. Make a family storybook using photos, including birthdays and addresses and relationships so kids gain a solid understanding of their family community. Participate in school activities beyond the classroom – book fairs, sports events, school plays. Get out in the local community with your kids. Are there opportunities for helping with recycling, planting trees or flowers, making cards for seniors at holidays? If not, maybe you can start one 😊
Why I Like This Book: It can be easy for anyone who has faced hardship, hurt, or disappointment to wall themselves off from the world as a measure of self protection. So Cat lives his life, staying where he feels safe, never venturing forth, and threatening all he encounters with hisses, teeth, and claws because the world is frightening to him. But along comes Pigeon who has never known anything but love – Cat’s love for her and hers for him – and over the course of the story Cat opens his heart and his mind and comes to realize that the world can be a good and beautiful place to which he has a lot to offer, and maybe, just maybe, it has something to offer him. This book is a sweet and lovely celebration of friendship and community, taking something rough and making it better for everyone. The art is engaging, full of details. I love the places where Cat and Pigeon talk, because Pigeon has her own way of communicating, all in pictures 😊 I can’t imagine anyone not loving this book!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
What a wonderful story, Susanna! I love all of the themes…and it feels so original.
It really is beautiful, Vivian! I think you will love it!
Community is everything, isn’t it? I love your review and love books that celebrate community so I am putting this on my list! Thank you!
I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Mona!
I had a book for Perfect Picture Book Friday but I noticed it was self-published. Am I correct in my understanding that I should only submit books for your database that are traditionally published? Just wanted to be sure! Thanks so much, Susanna!
That caveat was back in the beginning when self-published books were often not quite as good and when we were getting the list started. If you want to review a self-published book you really like, that’s fine!
This DOES sound like a wonderful story. I love that cat searches for their friend – whether they need rescuing or not. Definitely going to look for this one.
I think you will love it, Sue 😊
Wow! The grandson of Hemingway writing a children’s book! My first question is whether their sentence structure is similar, LOL. Seriously, though, this does sound like a wonderful book. Will add it to my TBR list. Thanks, Susanna!
I know, right? And this isn’t his only one! I had no idea! And he illustrates too! He has BAD APPLE and TOUGH COOKIE and GRUMPASAURUS, and a few others!
Wow.. I have recently read several biographies of Ernest Hemingway..this is so awesome to discover his grandson is a PB author/Illustrator!
Looking forward to reading this book! 🙂
I hope you love it as much as I do, Susan! And I was saying to Jilanne above that Edward Hemingway has a bunch of other PBs too – I had no idea!
Thank you for sharing this!
I’m just shaking my head thinking how beautiful this story is and how well it resonates.
It really is heart-warming. I hope you get to read it!
This is amazing. I am really excited to see the rest of this book. What a wonderful resource for a country that needs desperately to heal.
So, so true, Maria! It’s a lovely book, with a great ending which I will not spoil for you! 😊
This sounds like a gorgeous book, Susanna, and written by Hemingway’s grandson – how awesome is that. Must be something in the genes.
I think I like Edward’s writing genes a lot better than Ernest’s, Norah 😊 At least reading Edward’s book was a much more pleasant experience 🤣
I really only know The Old Man and the Sea. I watched the biopic last year. He didn’t seem like a very nice person. I think I agree with you about Edward’s book. 🙂
Such a heartfelt story! Perfect timing for some upcoming birthdays this summer.
I’m so glad, Pat! Nothing like a good birthday book!
This looks beautiful! Moving and friendship are such difficult subjects for children to navigate.
Thanks for the heads up that this will be out soon. I’ve been looking forward to reading it – love the vintage look of the artwork!